Apple’s AI Delay Threatens Future as Stock Lags

Apple’s announcement in June that it would not release its highly advanced Siri AI product until 2026 represents what industry analysts are calling a potentially catastrophic misstep. The delay means the enhanced Siri could only become part of iOS 26.4, likely launching in March 2026 or later. This timeline places Apple significantly behind competitors who have already released multiple generations of AI products. According to sources familiar with the matter, the primary challenge lies in developing a version of Siri that is substantially more “context aware” than previous iterations, requiring sophisticated artificial intelligence capabilities that Apple has struggled to implement effectively.

The technical hurdles are compounded by the rapid pace of innovation in the AI sector. While Apple works to overcome its development challenges, competitors like OpenAI and xAI have released several product generations within the past year alone. These competing AI systems already offer capabilities that Apple’s delayed Siri aims to achieve, including writing software code, drafting emails in a user’s unique voice, creating images and video, analyzing complex files, and providing sophisticated text and voice translation across languages. This technological gap represents more than just a temporary setback—it threatens to permanently relegate Apple to a follower rather than a leader in the AI revolution.

Perhaps more alarming than the technical challenges is Apple’s failure to retain its top artificial intelligence talent. The company has watched as some of its best AI programmers have been poached by competitors, with several joining Meta Platforms Inc. and others moving to OpenAI. Industry rumors suggest these departures were fueled by multimillion-dollar compensation packages that Apple has been unwilling to match. The loss of Ke Yang, who headed the department developing features to make Siri more ChatGPT-like by enabling web information retrieval, represents a particularly significant blow to Apple’s AI ambitions.

Compounding the talent drain is Apple’s apparent reluctance to invest in the massive infrastructure required for cutting-edge AI development. Unlike its competitors, Apple is not spending tens of billions of dollars to create its own AI data centers—the critical infrastructure that powers AI learning and capabilities. These facilities, which consume tremendous amounts of electricity and water while requiring vast quantities of Nvidia chips, form the backbone of modern AI systems. By staying out of this infrastructure race, Apple risks falling into a dependency cycle where it must rely on competitors’ technologies to power its own products.

Apple’s current business model remains heavily dependent on iPhone sales, which generated $44.6 billion of the company’s $94 billion total revenue in the most recent quarter. The iPhone also serves as the primary driver for Apple’s Services business, which contributed an additional $27.4 billion. While sales of the upcoming iPhone 17 are expected to be strong, this continued reliance on hardware sales has failed to impress Wall Street investors who are increasingly focused on AI capabilities as the key metric for tech company valuation.

The market’s verdict has been clear and unforgiving. Apple’s stock has remained flat this year while the broader market has gained 14% and Meta’s stock has surged 20% higher. This performance gap reflects growing investor concern about Apple’s ability to compete in the AI era. Making matters worse, iPhone users already have access to best-in-class AI through third-party applications—three of the five most downloaded iPhone apps are AI products from Apple’s competitors. This means Apple’s own hardware platform is effectively showcasing superior technology from its rivals, undermining any potential competitive advantage the company might hope to gain from its delayed Siri offering.